Fierce Panda

I feel that it's about time I sang the praises of the London based, Fierce Panda record label. They boast "twelve years of rule-detonating indie dementia". The jewels in their crown are Coldplay, Death Cab For Cutie, Idlewild and Placebo. The label has provided the first stepping stone for these and a number of other highly successful bands. Most recent releases have been with Capdown, ShitDisco and Make Good Your Escape.

There are a few hidden gems to be found on Fierce Panda. One such gem is Easyworld. Despite a few singles on Fierce Panda, and later two albums on Jive, the band never made it big. This video is of the single 'Bleach' by the Eastbourne rockers.



Former Easyworld front man David Ford has gone on to release some promising solo work recently.

Here's a list of some of the bands currently and previously signed to fierce Panda.

(x) is greater than (y), 3 Colours Red, Absent Kid, Agent Blue, Alterkicks, Apartment, Art Brut, Ash, Atlantic Dash, Battle, Blackbud, Boy Kill Boy, Bright Eyes, Cablecar, Capdown, Coldplay, David Ford, Dead Disco, Death Cab for Cutie, Easyworld, Embrace, Further, Gledhill, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, Hot Puppies, Hundred Reasons, Idlewild, iLiKETRAiNS, Kari Kleiv, Keane, Lapsus Linguae, Make Good Your Escape, My Architects, Placebo, Polyphonic Spree, Seafood, Shitdisco, Simple Kid, sixbyseven, Supergrass, The Blackout, The Bluetones, The Disappiontments, The Drama, The Features, The Immediate, The Music, The Revelations, The Vacation, This Girl, Winnebago Deal, Wreckless Eric, YMSS.

Fierce Panda website
Fierce Panda myspace
Easyworld Website
David Ford

End of the space race for Bad Astronaut

The last six years have been an epic journey for Joey Cape. The singer, who is also a member of Lagwagon, formed Bad Astronaut in 2000. Soon the band released their debut album, Acrophobe. You could sense that the band was still settling with this first record. The album as a whole could not replicate the punchy sound of Unlucky Stuntman, but showed massive promise. The cleverly titled, Houston We Have A Drinking Problem was released a year later and was a much more polished attempt. The drum tracks on the album are what set Bad Astronaut apart from other Indie-Punk bands.

Various members of the seven piece band are involved with Lagwagon, Me First And The Gimme Gimmes, Sugarcult, Nerf Herder, Swinging Utters and The Ataris. Some of these links slowed the creation of the eagerly awaited third album. Despite all the work which had gone in to the album, it remained far from completion. In March 2005 drummer Derrick Plourde took his own life. Joey was working with Lagwagon at the time and the songs on the album ‘Resolve’ reflect his grief. Following his friends death, Joey felt compelled to complete the Bad Astronaut album. He began re-working the songs over the top of Derrick’s drum tracks. It became imperative that songs were perfect, in order to make the album a fitting tribute to Derrick’s life. For this reason, many of the songs were dramatically changed or totally re-written.

The third album finally found its way to the shops last month. The album was named by Derrick: 12 Small Steps, One Giant Disappointment. In retrospect this title was tragically too sincere. The final track is called Thirteenth Step and draws a line under the album and the band. Thanks to Joey and the rest of the band, Derrick Plourdes last musical contributions have not gone to waste. It is clear that the effort has been emotionally draining and it is sadly the last offering from Bad Astronaut.



badastronaut.com
myspace.com/badastronaut
purevolume.com/badastronaut